Silver Light (ONC 2024) LONGLIST

Chapter 7

The air was cold and nipped at the skin through their fur as the two wolves charged after Satix with all the enethey could put into their sprint. With each huffing breath, a puff of white was exhaled into the air. The ground had turned hard and cold beneath their paws, no longer soft and plush as it should have been. It was hard not to notice the way each blade of grass snapped and crunched with every paw fall that landed on top of them. It was as if Nevanthi and Ataraxia stepped into a weird world of winter, its tiny crystals forming on the edges of tree branches and their lush green foliage. The only thing that was missing was the fluffy white snow that typically blanketed the earth during the winter. Maybe that alone was a blessing in disguise, not wanting to lose the visibility they needed in that freezing evening. 

Nevanthi had become very aware she wasn't the only one to notice the sudden seasonal changes that now surrounded them, Satix was beginning to slow down as if the changes were beginning to perplex him beyond escape. He was looking around ust as confused as Nevanthi felt -- and rightly so. 

"Satix!, stop! Something isn't right out here!" 

She called out to the slowly black beast in front of them, hoping he would stop long enough for her to catch up with him and catch her breath at the same time. The freezing temperatures being sucked into her lungs with each breath burned with each inhale, all she needed was a calming moment to give her lungs a rest. 

By pure luck, Nevanthi and Ataraxia were able to come to a full stop on either side of Satix when he halted the chase himself on a high hill overlooking a small bit of the forest. It gave both her and her silver furred companion a chance to catch their breath and regain the much needed air that their lungs were being robbed of with each deep inhale they were forced to take in. 

"Why. . . did you run?" 

Nevanthi panted, turning a curiously confused gaze onto Satix. 

An unrelenting panic and absolute bout of horror quickly filled the black wolf's amber eyes as he stared out into the emptiness of the overshadowed forest. It was as if someone had taken away his favorite toy and broke in in front of him, the object beyond any form of repair. However, that seemed to be far from the case currently at hand. 

"Nevanthi, wait. Look." 

Nodding his head in the direction Satix was currently looking in, Ataraxia attempted to get Nevanthi's attention off of the black wolf and onto what had caught Satix's attention in the first place. 

When Ataraxia finally managed to get Nevanthi to look at him and not Satix, though with a rather harsh glare mixed with her never ending curiosity, a slight relief rose within him. It was better than having her anger and annoyance directed at a panic Satix. Regardless of who her emotions were directed at, Ataraxia once more nodded out in front of them, trying to direct Nevanthi's attention once more to what was now becoming an alarming sight in the distance of the forest. 

"Please, it isn't what you think." 

Nevanthi, deciding to humor Ataraxia, looked to where he was pointing earnestly. What she thought was going to be nothing was surprisingly something. Shock overtook her, stealing the breath right out of her lungs once more. 

"What in the world?" 

Nevanthi didn't know how to even continue with her question, nothing she was witnessing before her ever happened like this. She knew things were going on in the forest, but this was beyond her wildest imagination. 

Glimmering crystal spikes jutted out of the ground and nearby tree trunks, stakes of pure ice ready to impale anyone unaware they were there. The ground had become smooth and hard, frozen over as if someone tossed water everywhere and turned the heat off with a simple flick. Smaller crystals of ice and frost had formed around the edges of leaves and random blades of grass. It was as if winter refused to let go its unrelenting grasp upon the world and was fighting to take it back anyway it could find possible.